Some Witty Title
by Ivory Tuluxey
Summary: it's soo much better than the title makes it out to be. really. R&R please, it'll boost my confidence. ;D set in whatever season this is...5 maybe?
1. Darkness

1

**Some Witty Title**

_Disclaimer: I do not own the beloved characters of Andromeda. I do however own the soon to be beloved character(s) that are not in Andromeda and yet are in this story. Haha, I win the game._

Riley, sitting in the pilot's seat of her trusty ship, Zoey, muttered curses under her breath as sleep threatened to take her once more. "No," she sighed, "Not yet." She shook her head, heavy with exhaustion.

"There's an anomaly that opened, dead ahead in space Riley," the familiar voice of her ship's AI shook Riley once again from the threat of sweet dreams.

"Show me," she commanded. Indeed, an anomaly it was. Riley stared at the screen, not knowing what to make of the blue rotating cube, only knowing that it made her pulse race with fear and excitement. An emotion, that would not be described at all as a stranger, coursed through her veins. One that whispers of fleeing, and at the same moment, of charging irrationally into the abyss.

In the end she decided that her adrenaline would not win today, and attempted to change course. No luck.

"Ahh, Zoey?" she said alarmed.

"Sorry Rye, it seems like the anomaly is pulling us toward it. We have no choice."

"Great, just what I like to hear."

In a matter of moments, Zoey and her only crew member were inside the anomaly...there was darkness for both.

Screaming, Riley thrust herself back into consciousness. Death would not win her, not until she was old, grey and wrinkly, with great-grandchildren on her lap...in other words, not until she was happy. She took a deep breath to calm herself, unable to listen to what was around her in the darkness with the river of blood that rushed through her head. As it calmed to a trickle Riley thought she could make out voices. Dim whispers of a people once lost, once found, a dead future, a living past, and it quickened her heart rate.

She was reminded of story she read when times were good on Earth. Where the hero, Odysseus, sailed to the House of the Dead, to speak to a prophet. There he heard and saw the shades of the living that had passed into the realms of the Dead. She felt like Odysseus now, surrounded by shades, eager to leave and yet eager to stay and listen, perhaps learn.

She pulled herself up above what she believed to be a sea of people, trying to see those who were speaking. She saw nothing in the eternal darkness, not even her hand that she knew to be held in front on her eyes. Ready to crumble with defeat, Riley trembled in the black.

Before long she felt herself falling. "How hard will I hit the ground?" she asked herself, "Will it kill me?" Neither fear would come to pass.

With a sudden jerk Riley's vision blurred and focused. She, sitting in the pilot's seat of her trusty ship Zoey, and Zoey yelling obscenities to get her only crew member to respond.


	2. Ship

1**Some Witty Title**

"RILEY! Make us stop!"

Riley's attention focused on the once blank screen only to see a very large ship in the center. She let out a frustrated sigh, almost growling with annoyance as she switched the controls and turned on the rear thrusters for an emergency stop. Due to the force Riley was flung forward and when all was over, both girl and ship sighed, happy to be finished with the ordeal of the anomaly, and happy to be in one piece.

"We're being hailed."

"Show me darling, so we can get this mess cleaned up."

"Yes ma'am."

Almost immediately on the screen in front of her appeared a man with sandy blond hair and a smirk.

"I'm Captain Dylan Hunt of the Andromeda Ascendant. We couldn't help but notice your arrival," he said.

"Yea, we noticed too,"she sighed and wiped the sweat from her eyes, "I'm Riley Dunbar, and this beautiful little machine is Zoey."

Zoey's face appeared on screen with a bright girlish smile. "Pleased to meet you," she giggled, then returned the screen to Dylan. Riley sighed and rubbed her temples, trying to rid herself of the annoyance her ship had just set upon her.

The Captain let out a chuckle of surprise and attempted to ask all the normal questions that come with first contact.

"Do you have any food?" Riley cut him off.

"Excuse me?"

"Food? Do you have any? Because I just ran out about a week ago. Do you mind if we do this later...can I land, I'd rather have this conversation face to face with something filling my stomach." Riley was beginning to shake now, the adrenaline of the trip was wearing down.

"Permission granted," Dylan said with a look of pity on his face.

"Perfect," Riley sighed, and revved up the forward engines.

The Andromeda was bigger than she could have ever imagined. She thought she could remember seeing a ship like this before, but tried as she might, she could not jog that memory.

"She's High-guard," Zoey answered as if she had read Riley's mind. "Common Wealth Ship...thought those were extinct." Riley nodded in agreement.

After Zoey was safely docked and the air locks safely closed, Riley unbuckled the belt that latched her to the pilot's seat and attempted to stand. After recovering from momentary dizziness, she made her way to the ship's outer doors, feeling exhaustion settle back into her bones. The adrenaline was gone, all that was left was fatigue, a fluttering heart, and an empty stomach.

The doors opened and off to the left side of the ramp stood a muscled man, with careless facial hair growing at all angles. Bone Blades stuck from his forearms which only meant one thing.

Riley cursed loudly and looked at her trembling hands. If she were to die now, she'd welcome the long sleep. She did not reach for her weapon.

The doors leading into the Andromeda's corridors opened, and Riley saw the familiar face of Captain Dylan Hunt. She searched his arms for Bone Blades and saw none. Remotely relieved, she opened her mouth to say something sarcastic and cynical but instead her vocal chords refused to work. She gave up and sighed as she walked toward them.

Her legs threatened to collapse from underneath her, but her pride refused to give the Nietzschean the satisfaction of seeing her human form fall.

"Riley Dunbar, I presume. This is Telemachus Rhade, my Lieutenant Commander," Dylan introduced the hairy one. Riley nodded in acknowledgment, but said nothing. "The rest of the crew is eager to meet you, I'm sure."Riley was too busy thinking about the Nietzschean's name to listen to the Captain of the ship, and she scolded herself for it. She thought is odd that she had just been thinking about Odysseus, and then meets someone with the son of the hero's name.

Something caught Riley's attention just as they walked through the doors to the Bridge, she turned, back facing the crew that waited to meet her.

"Hey Boss, who's the," said a voice that was more than familiar to Riley, and she whipped around to see if it was true.

"Shay?" She was stunned as her eyes settled on the form of Seamus Zalazny Harper.

Seamus' jaw dropped. "Rye...heh-hey."


	3. Past

1**Some Witty Title**

Riley didn't know whether to hug him, kiss him, or kill him. But she missed him, from his voice to his arms, she missed everything about him. Her body trembled for him...or was that the hunger and exhaustion?

Her knees buckled as if to answer, and she would've hit the floor had Dylan not been beside her and grabbed her arm for support. Seamus, she noticed, flinched and took a step toward her. Now concern flooded his features.

"About that meal we promised," Dylan said as she stood again, taller this time, her chin thrust out in attempt to make herself look bolder. She shook visibly now, she wanted to lay her head down and sleep. The thought of food made her sick, and yet the thought of no food made her sicker.

As Dylan led her away toward the mess hall Seamus caught her eyes, and they locked for a moment. The light that was once there was dim now, almost gone. Her already skinny frame was skinnier, her eyes slightly sunken, and bloodshot from lack of sleep.

"Maybe we should get her into Med Deck," he mumbled casually to Trance, who nodded in agreement.

At the sight of food all nausea disappeared. Riley feasted on whatever meat that was, and whichever vegetable this is. She couldn't remember ever loving the taste of food to this degree...that was a lie, she did grow up on Earth after all. Sometimes they would go days without food. Never had she lasted this long.

"So where are you from?" asked Dylan diplomatically as she paused to take a drink of water.

"Earth, Boston to be exact."

"That's where Mr. Harper is from, am I correct?"

"Yea. We grew up together."

"Oh, are you a relative?"

"Naw-. Well, almost. I mean..." Riley's voice trailed off, and Dylan waited for the explanation, but it never came. But insightful Hunt could guess what was meant behind her words.

"I was lookin' for him ya know? For a really long time. Well, it took me a while to build my ship. But after that I started lookin'...I gave up abouttwo years ago," she confessed quickly and she was surprised and disappointed in herself. Just because the man filled her belly and treated her well didn't mean he could be trusted...and yet she had a feeling that she was safe here, despite the presence of the Nietzschean.

"You built that ship?"

"Yea. Shay helped before he left. It was our plan to build her and leave. Start a new life, y'know? All that fairytale crap."

"What happened?"

Riley didn't answer, nor did she make eye contact. She made herself busy with the slicing of meat that would soon be digested.

Dylan thought it wise not to pry. "All will be revealed," he thought.

"How did you end up here, in this system?" he asked, genuinely curious.

"That's a freaking trip dude. Listen, so we were running from these...this...problem. We lost them fortunately, unfortunately we lost ourselves in the process."

"We?"

"Yea, Zoey and me. So then I run out of food, –this is really good by the way, d'ja want some? No?–and just as we thought it was hopeless,–can ya pass that do job ova there, thanks,– just as we thought it was hopeless this "anomaly" shows up and swallows us." Riley involuntarily shuttered as she remembered the whispering shades. "It spits us out here."

"That "anomaly" is called the Route of Ages. It's how we all got here," said a slightly goldish girl as she walked into the room.

"Is it? I read that somewhere..."She couldn't think of where, all she could think of was her uncomfortably filled stomach and the sleep that was starting to weigh heavily on her eyes.

"Dylan, Harper and I think that Riley...that is your name right?"–Riley nodded–"she should go to Med. Deck."

"I was about to suggest the same thing Trance," said Captain Hunt.

Sitting on the hard bed in the lab, Riley waited for Trance to take her blood for analysis. Her mind kept racing with stories told to her about needles, and vaccines, and what they could do with your DNA. She felt insecure, vulnerable in this place. She didn't like it.

She heard the door open and she jumped with her heart and quickly looked to assess the situation. She saw Seamus and felt her lower lip tremble. She was scared and needed him, and he knew it, because she was alwaysreacted this way in any hospital-like place.

Tried as he did to forget about her as he buried himself in the metal of the Machine Shop, he couldn't, and he didn't. His mind kept flashing back to when they were still on Earth. Her screams, her complete terror. She kicked and punched the doctors until they had to tie her down. The reason for this disaster...an eye infection. They couldn't explain to her what the nanobots would do, how they would help. She wouldn't listen. Her theology of medicine relied heavily on herbs that did not grow any more.

She tied herself firmly to the Earth with everything she did and believed. So when he talked about leaving it wasn't surprising to him that she got angry and refused to go.

_"...and then we can get off this Hell."_

_"This "hell" is _home_, Shay."_

Eventually he convinced her to go with him. He could convince her of anything.

Riley shook a shakey breath in and looked up at him. He thought he saw a glimmer of a tear in her strong spirit. He went immediately to her side and kissed her forehead, they'd been through too much together to be distant now. This kiss, the first of human physical contact for three years.

"You can go now...I suggest some sleep." Trance's innocent voice reminded them where they were. Neither one of them noticed her as she took a sample of Riley's blood.

"That's it?" asked Riley, surprised.

"Yep," she smiled and walked away.

"You alright?" asked Harper and Riley nodded, now starving for sleep.

"Haven't slept in weeks."

"I'll get you to a bed. A very comfy one at that," he said, trying to sound normal and not worried about that statement.

"Get me back to Zoey. I want you to meet her."

"Zoey eh?"

"I named her and downloaded a basic model AI and she did the rest Shay. She's amazing, it's like she came alive and developed on her own."

Seamus smiled and changed his mind about sleeping arrangements, "I'll meet her later, we'll have a chat. But for now lay down here. The bed adjusts when you lie down. Good. Sweet dreams Rye," he said as bent down to kiss her forehead again and settle into the bliss that would follow. Riley lifted her chin and allowed their lips to touch for the first time since he left Earth.

Bliss could not describe how he felt as he reluctantly left.


	4. the cliche's are neverending!

1**Some Witty Title**

"So, how's she doing?" Dylan asked as he walked into the lab. "Harper...don't you have work to do?"

"Uh, yes boss, right away."

"She's doing fine. Except for being malnourished, her health is exceptional," said Trance as she watched Harper leave.

"And yet she hasn't woken up."

"Well, she mentioned something about not sleeping for weeks before she closed her eyes. As long as she's not comatose...I just don't want to wake her, she's so cute when she's asleep."

"Trance, it's been a little more than a day now."

"I know. But she was so exhausted that," Trance's statement was cut short by the sound of a feminine throat clearing from behind them. They turned to face the once sleeping girl.

"Sorry to interrupt and everything but...I uhhh...really gotta pee."

"Right, over there, turn left," Trance motioned toward the back of the room.

Riley slid off the bed and shuffled off quickly. When she returned, there was a bounce to her step and a glimmer of life in her eye that had not been there when she first arrived. She smiled warmly and said, "I'm hungry?"

"You know, I still need information about you, if you're going to keep eating my food," Dylan said as he lead her out the door and to the mess hall.

"Oh, but I'm so boring. Let's talk about you...and this amazing ship. Andromeda, like the galaxy...I'd like to rename Zoey to Orion, but I think she'd have an identity crisis and then a breakdown. Anyway, so what are you doing here Captain?"

"Well, right now we're just trying to find a way out of this system."

"And where are we?"

"Did you see those planets when you arrived?"

"No, I was looking at you."

"They're called Seefra."

"All of them?"

"No, they're numbered."

"Oh, of course. What was I thinking?" Riley said sarcastically. Dylan smiled, but she didn't notice.

During breakfast Dylan told her of how he came to be on Seefra. And of how he found the others, he glazed over the story (otherwise it would turn into an epic) and watched her heart sink when he told Harper's story, his latest thing with Hohne made her look up from her half finished meal and ask where he was.

Riley knew how to deal with Shay when it comes to disasters, no comforting words, no talking...a new toy, and maybe a tune up of his own. She wasn't sure, after being apart for so long, if it was appropriate, and she decided that she would decide when she came to that bridge. Now she concentrated on the directions Hunt gave her after offering many times to escort her to the machine shop. "Turn...left," she whispered, memorizing the way as she went, "Damn this ship is huge."

The machine shop, from the corridor, looked chaotic, but she knew Harper well enough to see the method to this madness...though she couldn't tell what was what.

There was a clang and thump, followed by a whispered "Ow." Riley smiled and walked toward the man she barely knew and the boy she knew all too well. When she found him laying on the floor, head stuck in a machine, she almost laughed out loud. There was nothing more familiar to her than Seamus' lower half poking out of a half finished idea. She nudged him with her foot, and squatted to his level as he slid himself out from under his project.

"This baby over-loaded again," he said, motioning to the machine.

She nodded and grabbed his hand, "I need to show you something."

"Oh my god. Riley, she's amazing. Absolutely brilliant," he said as he saw Zoey for the first time.

"You designed her Shay, I built her."

"I know, I'm a genius. Ow, you punched me."

"Let's go inside. Come on Zoey, open wide."

"Gladly. I Finally get a man inside me," Zoey responded as the ramp was lowered and the door opened.

"Zoey!" Riley buried her head in her hands and shook her head, then looked up at Shay, "I swear I didn't teach her that. That was her own doing."

Harper laughed, but as he tried to step onto the ramp he stopped, it moved away from him. "What the-." He tried again, and once more the ramp moved away. He looked at Riley for guidance only to see her face red from snickering silently to herself.

"She likes to amuse herself. She likes you," Riley innocently, then called over the Zoey, "Stop it Zoe, let him inside."

"She likes to amuse you, you mean," he said. Seamus, afraid of being used for the girl and her ship's amusement did not attempt to board. He'd seen Riley's tricks before, and on a different day, to a different person, he'd think this was funny.

Riley sighed, "Baby," she accused and walked passed him and onto the ramp. "You comin' Shay? Or you gonna admire her from the outside? First time for everythin' I guess."

Harper squinted at her and stepped abroad and into the ship.


	5. never ending I tell you!

1**Some Witty Title**

"So what is this all about, Rye?" asked Harper accusingly after a quick tour of the ship, (quick because Zoey was designed for two or three people and had very little cargo space).

"Whatcha mean? Just tinker around a bit," she shrugged, a smirk on her face.

Shay nodded, "Tinker, huh? What has Dylan?"

"Nothing," she said before he could finish.

"AH-HA! This is a pity romp!"

"It is not," Riley dismissed Shay's remark with a rolling of her eyes.

"Riley...you haven't let me "tinker" with your toys since we were ten and you caught me taking apart your doll."

"I loved that doll! That was my only toy Seamus, and you broke it...on purpose!"

"I was gonna put it back together."

"Liar, you hated her. You hated her because you wanted me all to yourself."

"Hey, you didn't seem to notice all the other times I did it."

"All the other...?"

Harper smiled, thoroughly pleased that things were going his way again. He loved that he could manipulate her, and he loved that she was the only one he could control.

What Harper didn't know was that Riley let him. She played to his whim so well that he never noticed when she turned everything around and in turn, got everything she wanted from him.

She turned on the water-works as she said, "That was my favorite doll...and you raped her...repeatedly."

Shay rolled his eyes, "I know you well enough to know the difference between real tears and "survival" tears Rye."

Survival Tears became very important for them on Earth when they needed a meal. When it was safe enough, young Riley would go out and sit in the alley of a "restaurant" and begin to cry while Seamus and a gang of their friends watched, concealed from sight, for any danger. Eventually someone would take pity on this small, dark haired child, and give her something edible. They would split it evenly when it was safe, it wasn't much, but it was enough to survive. Hence "Survival" Tears.

She immediately stopped and she wiped her eyes.

"Dylan told me about your friend. I'm sorry," she said as she looked into his steady gaze, and decided she wouldn't stop him if he made the move.

"So am I."

Seeing Seamus look pathetic with guilt, remorse, and sorrow struck Riley hard. It had always been difficult for him to trust anyone, especially when they would club you over the head for a crumb on the floor. Only Riley had taken the extra effort to stay with him. Even when he threw things and smashed his creations against the walls, she stayed, dodging shrapnel, to hold him until he relinquished all pain to her. She was the only one he could trust. And he meant everything to her.

He touched her face now, with the same gentleness that she had known years before and she closed her eyes to absorb it.

"I've missed you," she whispered, barely audible, and he answered with a kiss. And it was settled there what they would do for the next hour or two.


	6. issues

1**Some Witty Title**

"Mr. Harper, will you answer me please?" Dylan asked annoyed over the com link. He had been trying to get in touch with his small engineer with no luck for the past five minutes. "Andromeda, locate Harper for me."

"Yes Captain," Andromeda replied and immediately set to looking for Seamus Harper's energy signature. "Located, he's in Landing Bay Two."

"What's he doing in there?" Beka asked curiously.

"He's not alone," Andromeda added as an after thought, just in case they decided to go look for him. She hoped they would understand the implications.

The look of amused shock came about the crew's face, implying that they understood very well.

"But, she seemed sensible," said Rhade.

"I believe their ties go deeper than we thought," Dylan said, protecting their relationship, although he couldn't help but jibe a little into the situation also. "It's just that...she's gorgeous."

When Harper and Riley entered the Bridge they were met with smiles and winks, which in turn made Harper make crude cynical comments about privacy, while Riley blushed and bowed.

Later, Beka found Riley making some repairs on her ship, and decided it was a good time to chat. She cleared her throat.

"Hi, I'm Beka Valentine," she introduced herself as the smaller girl looked up at her and smiled warmly.

"Riley Dunbar," she said and shook Beka's hand. "I remember you Beka, though obviously you don't remember me." Riley went back to looking through wires that were pulled out of the wall.

"Pardon?" Beka's eyebrows rose in surprise.

"You're the one that stole Seamus away from us."

"I didn't "steal" Harper. He came on his own."

"I know. And it was Bobby anyway, that put the idea of money into his head."

"As I understand it, it was Harper that was looking for a job."

"Is it? Well, I must be mistaken then. My apologies," Riley said as she moved to another part of the ship.

"How do you remember me, when I've never seen you? I'd at least recognize you if I ever met you," said Beka as she followed the girl.

"Oh no, we've never met Beka. I saw you when I saw Shay off."

"That's impossible, Seamus didn't have anyone with him."

"No, I followed him without his knowledge– Ow, god damn– I'm very good at sneaking." Riley had a mysterious look in her eye when she looked up at Beka, and she didn't know what to make of it.

From experience, old acquaintances of Harper's have ended very badly. Of course, meeting anyone from any of the crew's past had turned out pretty badly. Beka didn't hold high hopes in her heart for this tiny girl, who's head just made it to Harper's nose, in fact Beka suspected that she held the power to blow up the entire system in her pinky. Although most things that had come through the Route of Ages turned out to work in their favor...it seemed that Beka had a lot to think about. Her intuition had been screwy lately...especially after feeling so good with Peter...Drago...whatever. She'd have to talk to Trance about it. She hoped Dylan had talked to Trance about it too.


	7. Concerning what subject?

1**Some Witty Title**

"Harper, what's wrong with your girlfriend?" Beka asked as soon as she saw him again.

"She's not my girlfriend, I don't think, and there are a lot of things wrong with her," Harper wasn't going to get into specifics, but as an after thought he added, "Why?"

"Did she "sneak" around a lot on Earth?"

"She could get within five feet of a Nietzschean with out him noticing...Why?"

"She said she remembers me."

"But she never met...Oh." Harper's expression softened and Beka thought she could make out a hint of a smile.

"So what happened between you two?" Beka wanted as much information about their relationship as she could get. But for now she wouldn't pry if he refused to tell.

Harper shrugged. "It didn't work out."

"Ok." Beka played with one of his tools and stayed silent. She knew him well enough to know that eventually he'd talk. He was much too in love with the sound of his own voice.

"I did something stupid to hurt her, and so instead of facing her about it I went to look for a job, hoping she'd be more angry about me leaving than about what I did to her."

"But she wasn't," Beka guessed.

"And she was raging when I got back. I didn't handle it well, and I yelled back and told her about Bobby and how I was leaving soon so it didn't matter."

"Didn't take that too well either, huh?"

"She called me a vile-insensitive-conceited-asshole, then threw a few things at me until I left. I had my cousin go into our shelter to get my things for me. He ended up calling her a crazy bitch and she ended up giving him a black eye. She never took any shit from us," he remember that last part with a smile, but it faded quickly, and he busied himself with the fixing ofAndromeda.

Beka patted his back and left him to his work.

* * *

"Trance, why is she here?" Dylan probed his own little star.

"I'm not sure. But I don't think she can be all that bad."

"I think she's trouble. Any friend of Harper's is trouble," growled Rhade from a corner.

"Is that so? Who are we talking about?" Riley caught them all off guard. None of them had heard her approach. She looked pleased as she noted the surprise on the Nietzschean's face.

"You actually," Trance said before either of the men could. Who knew how long she'd been listening?

"I see." She raised her eyebrows. She was used to people talking about her, especially after her best friend had betrayed and abandoned her. After he left she kept to herself, and seemed to slowly go mad. It was the loneliness that drove her to finish Zoey; she almost never touched metal and tools. Riley preferred the organic stuff, Seamus dealt with the inventions. She wondered what rumor they were discussing.

"We were just wondering whether or not you were dangerous," Trance answered her thoughts.

Riley smiled and shook her head. "I grew up on Earth. The only way to survive as a female child and not be sold into slavery or raped is to be dangerous. But me, I found myself a group when I was young."

"Safety in numbers," nodded Dylan.

"Precisely, Captain. In that group we all had jobs specific to our talents. I was look-out, cook, and spy (when I had to be). Alone, very insignificant. But together..."Riley left her sentence hanging in the air around them.

Beka's footsteps clanked down the passage and all four of them watched her approach. "Having a party and no one invited me?" Beka joked as she drew closer.

"I think I'd better get going," Riley excused herself and left the room more noticeably than when she came.

Beka reminded Riley of her sister, Megan. Megan was older, and was her only family when the Magog came to Earth for the first time. Harper wasn't the only one who lost family to those parasitic scum. She begged Riley to kill her so that the larvae couldn't grow. She was five at the time; one of her first memories was killing her own sister. The memory was buried deep within her, and not a soul knew. She felt it to be a terrible crime, killing your flesh and blood. She grew nervous, sometimes hostile, when she thought about it. And she knew it wasn't helping her status with Beka at all.

It all frustrated her, and suddenly she was exhausted again. Worn to the bone by memories that would not fade. She wished she could forget, be overcome with some dream of better days.

She went back to Zoey and opened a panel in the floor. There she kept her treasures, her most prized possessions and smiled to herself as she pulled some delicate thing from the stash. It was a book, an ancient leather bound paper book, worth who knows how much to collectors. She sighed as she sunk into her bed. The book creaked in protest as she opened it, but soon settled into the bliss of being read. And as she was absorbed into battles, and banters, and quests, and love, Riley forgot all but the words. It was better this way.


	8. don't worry about it

1**Some Witty Title**

Dylan approached the ship named Zoey carefully. Andromeda told him that Riley had come here, and he came to investigate, but found the doors closed.

"Andromeda, I thought you said that the doors were open."

"They were Captain. They shut when the bay doors opened," Andromeda's disembodied voice answered.

"I shut them, sir. Just a precaution." A voice came from Zoey and Dylan assumed it was the ship herself.

"May I come in?" he asked politely, "I'd like to talk to your Captain."

Zoey sighed. "Captain...that's a nice word." The ship's doors opened and the ramp was lowered. "Tread quietly," she warned.

Dylan entered as quietly as he could and looked around. Noticing a small corridor, he decided to go through it and found himself in a bedroom. Riley was asleep on the bed with, unless he was mistaken, a book in her lap. Dylan smiled and as he turned to go he saw Harper coming down the hall in front of him.

Harper gave him a questioning look as Dylan moved out of the way and pointed to the bed. Seamus looked and smiled. Often on Earth he would come home and find her sprawled out on their bed with a book on her lap. On some occasions she'd be conked out at the table, her face pressed against it's pages.

He moved toward her quietly and pulled the book away from her sleeping body, glanced at the page as a reflex, and closed it as he set it down next to her. Dylan decided to sneak away at this point, and left without a sound as Harper gently caressed Riley's face. Riley shifted quietly and opened her eyes.

"Why'd you do that ta your hair?" she smiled.

"Do what?"

"It's ugly. You should let me cut it."

"The last time you cut my hair you snipped off part of my ear."

"I sewed it back on." She looked up at him innocently and he grinned.

"Go back to bed," he said as he kissed her forehead.

"I'm up now, don't leave me. What page am I on?"

"Two hundred thirty-six," he replied as he straightened up.

"No, don't leave."

"I have to. I gotta work. I'll see you in a couple days."

"What? Days? Why?" Riley sat up, pulling her hair back from her face.

"I own a bar on Seefra," he said as-a-matter-of-factly.

"You amounted to something?"

"I a-mounted a lot of things. Thank you, by the way."

"Ha ha," Riley said through squinted eyes.

"Bye." And with a quick kiss on the lips he was gone again.

Riley rubbed her eyes, stretched and grinned as she sunk back into her story. She wouldn't leave until she finished it.


End file.
